SPEAKING to Laura Kuenssberg on the BBC this weekend, Keir Starmer said he knows that his government is "going to have to be unpopular" – insisting that "difficult" and "unpopular" decisions are necessary to deliver the "change we need for the country".
It's funny how these tough and difficult decisions always seem to involve being tough and difficult for the poor, the marginalised, the elderly, and the disabled. They are never tough and difficult for the rich and well connected. “Funny” in this instance is a synonym for drearily predictable.
Decisions that are tough and difficult for the wealthy really would be the "change we need for the country”. But of course that is not what Starmer is proposing.
READ MORE: Dozens of Labour MPs could rebel during Winter Fuel Payment vote
The Prime Minister’s interview came ahead of a Commons vote – set for Tuesday – on whether to axe the Winter Fuel Payment for all but the poorest pensioners, a "difficult decision" which has even been criticised by those within Labour.
There are reports that as many as 50 Labour MPs could refuse to back their government’s controversial plan to cut the Winter Fuel Payment. Starmer has urged his backbenchers to get behind a measure which he has conceded is not popular.
Almost 30 MPs – including 11 from the Labour party – have signed an Early Day Motion from Labour’s Neil Duncan-Jordan calling for the Government to rethink making the payment means-tested.
Seven Labour backbenchers had the party whip suspended in July after they rebelled and voted to back an SNP amendment to the King's Speech which demanded that the government scrap the two-child cap on benefits, which has been blamed for being responsible for a massive rise in child poverty since being introduced by Theresa May back in 2017.
Starmer insists that the Government cannot afford the estimated £3.5bn it would cost to abolish the cap, although it can apparently afford to spend the estimated £41bn cost of the Dreadnought programme to replace the UK's nuclear submarine fleet.
It is thought that Labour backbenchers who rebel during tomorrow's Commons vote on the cut to the Winter Fuel Payment will face a similarly draconian punishment as those who rebelled in July. Starmer's authoritarian tendencies are fully unleashed now he's got what he wanted and has an unassailable majority in the Commons.
A less authoritarian leader would shrug off a rebellion from a couple of dozen MPs which would not threaten getting the measure passed, but Starmer is not a man to tolerate democratic dissent within his own party's ranks.
The question is how many of those rebels will come from the ranks of Labour's 37 Scottish MPs.
READ MORE: Ireland's energy bill price cut shows 'boundless opportunities of independence'
Not one of them opposed the two-child cap on benefits when it was voted upon in the Commons in July, despite Labour in Scotland making a very big play of its opposition to the cap prior to the General Election on July 4.
Labour's Scottish branch manager Anas Sarwar has spoken of his support for the cut to the Winter Fuel Payment, calling it an "opportunity" for the Scottish Government.
It is highly likely that the spineless 37 will meekly support Starmer's decision to make Scottish pensioners freeze, because as ever the Labour party promises one thing in opposition but delivers another when in power. This is a party which has learned absolutely nothing from its decade in the Scottish political wilderness.
The SNP's Westminster leader Stephen Flynn has written to Sarwar and Labour's Scottish MPs ahead of the Commons vote urging them to "do the right thing”. Sadly we know that Sarwar and those Labour MPs will file Stephen Flynn's letter in the bin. Labour believe they have defeated the "threat" of Scottish independence, so Scotland and its concerns can likewise be filed in the bin.
Commenting on Starmer's interview with Laura Kuenssberg, the SNP said Starmer had made a "political choice to follow the Tories' austerity agenda".
This is what you voted for if you voted Labour in Scotland in July's General Election. Instead of the change that was promised, Labour is delivering miserable warnings that things are going to get much worse than they did under Tory austerity. And it’s all because Starmer and his Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have made the political decision to stick with Tory fiscal rules and not to make choices that are "tough and difficult" for the rich.
You don't produce change by repeating the same Conservative fiscal rules that have already created so much poverty for the many while further enriching those who already have more than enough.
This piece is an extract from today’s REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
To receive our full newsletter including this analysis straight to your email inbox, click HERE and click the "+" sign-up symbol for the REAL Scottish Politics
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel